


Rule Of The Tribe Stands Against All

by SykoShadowRose



Category: RWBY
Genre: Chaos, Crack Treated Seriously, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, Licking, M/M, birthday giftfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:20:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27755251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SykoShadowRose/pseuds/SykoShadowRose
Summary: After reaching a peaceful arrangement  with the Happy Huntresses, a party is thrown to celebrate... chaos ensues.
Relationships: Marrow Amin/Jaune Arc, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi, Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi/James Ironwood, Qrow Branwen/James Ironwood, Robyn Hill/Winter Schnee
Comments: 19
Kudos: 53





	Rule Of The Tribe Stands Against All

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StoryWeaverKirea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryWeaverKirea/gifts).



> Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoy this slightly crazy idea that I came up with.

“So, you’re working on a new, special communications tower but don’t want anyone to know because the same enemy that hacked the knights at Beacon could be in Atlas or Mantle. Is that about right?” Robyn kept her grip on James’s left hand loose, even if she wanted to hold tighter. Maybe even tight enough to hurt. She’d spent so long being angry at him that seeing him in a peaceful light was difficult. She didn’t want to know why he’d done what he had. She might be inclined to forgive him if she actually understood.

“That is correct.” James waited for Robyn’s response when the aura around their joined hands flared green. He hoped he was doing the right thing by following the rookies’ plan to include Robyn at Qrow’s insistence.

_“Sometimes a little trust can go a long way.”_

Negotiating with the Huntresses for additional help moving and guarding supplies in exchange for some of those supplies being sent to Mantle was an experience. One he hoped to never have to repeat again. But even with some of the supplies being diverted to Mantle’s defense instead of to Amity’s construction, the tower would be finished on schedule, if not ahead of time, due to all the additional aid. Fiona in particular would be helpful in transporting supplies.

They also shared information on Tyrian Callows. If the madman had followed Qrow and Ruby and the others all the way to Atlas then the Happy Huntresses had a better chance of finding the bastard if he was hiding out in Mantle. And Robyn was fiercely determined to protect her citizens. Now that she had an idea of who might be responsible, of what she was most likely looking for, nothing would stop her from finding the murderer.

“Well. Looks like we’ve finally reached an understanding. Now, how about we tempt fate?” Robyn smiled as she finally let go, placing her hand on her hip instead.

James paused minutely, a thread of wary concern lacing it’s way through him. “How do you intend to tempt fate Miss Hill?” The General folded both hands behind his back while he waited for her answer. Hopefully she wasn’t about to suggest something unnecessarily drastic like playing bait to draw the killer out of hiding.

“How about we all have a friendly little get together down in Mantle? See if we get any party crashers.”

Maybe _he_ should offer to play bait to lure the killer out of the shadows.

“Couldn’t hurt to try. It’ll make the kids happy.” Qrow finally spoke from his place, sprawled across James’s desk in such a twisted way that he somehow looked bonelessly comfortable without disturbing a single thing sitting on it. 

James would have tried to shoo him off of it, if he thought it had even a chance of working. As it was, he was just grateful that nothing was being knocked out of place. So, he could accept Qrow nesting on his desk. In fact, thinking a bit on it, he had pretty much expected it at some point. However, he wondered what crime he had committed against his friend recently that warranted this kind of retaliation. Surely he hadn’t earned this level of punishment, no matter what he’d done to draw Qrow’s ire.

“We are running out of options for trying to catch the culprit but…” Winter started hesitantly. James could almost hear the grimace she was hiding behind her thoughtful frown. Agreeing to a party with Robyn and agreeing with Qrow was a double blow that would no doubt leave her (subtly) upset for the rest of the day. At least. 

“Great! We’ll head down and start getting things ready. Get the word out a bit to draw attention. I’ll send the location when we’re done.” Robyn gave a vague salute, probably to mock him, and turned, breezing out of his office with her Huntresses to carry out her threat. 

It occurred to him, as his supposed friend flipped off his desk and left the room to inform his flock of the new plans for the night, that Winter hadn’t exactly said yes to the party and he hadn’t said anything at all. Qrow’s word was apparently final enough for the rogue huntress. Why had he permitted Qrow to be part of the meeting again?

Oh. Right… He hadn’t.

Qrow had been waiting on the desk for them when they’d arrived for the meeting and kicking him out would have required physically picking him up and throwing him out the window fast enough to close and lock it before he flew back in. His success at doing so in the past weighted the odds against him on that task and doing so in front of the Happy Huntresses would have been undignified. 

He was beginning to believe it would have been worth it to try anyways.

~*~

Arriving at the named site with a sense of dread heavy in his stomach, James led Winter and the Ace Ops inside. As he made his way to where Qrow and Robyn were already deep in conversation with Clover and Winter sticking close, he reminded himself why working with the Huntresses was for the best.

Work on Amity would go more smoothly.

Civil unrest in Mantle would settle some.

Atlas and Mantle would have some kind of peace.

His public image would begin improving slightly.

Robyn could prove that she would help Mantle like she promised.

Yes. This was good. It was manageable. As long as nothing too crazy happened (excluding the actual reason for the party coming to pass) this may even be enjoyable. Yes. They could do this. He accepted the glass Robyn offered him and smiled. It would be fine.

~*~

Jaune frowned, watching as the Happy Huntress with the (admittedly) pretty and well cared for hooves leaned (unnecessarily) into Marrow’s side. Again. Just like the last three times, the Specialist’s tail dropped slightly and he shuffled a nervous step back. A few more steps and the poor Op’s back would be against the wall. The blond thought that, even without the obvious tell from his tail, it should be pretty easy to see how uncomfortable Marrow was when she got close like that. The other four Huntresses that Jaune had watched approach the faunus had picked up his cues relatively quickly and left him alone after a short friendly conversation. 

This one was either massively unobservant, ignorant, or uncaring of his discomfort.

And Marrow was probably worried that he’d shatter the weak, budding peace between the Atlas soldiers and the Happy Huntresses if he upset her by telling her to back off.

She obviously didn’t have the same concern.

Blue eyes rolled away as the owner tried to keep his temper under control. It wasn’t usually a problem (Nora was the one on the team with a short fuse) but he had certain triggers and watching someone get bullied was one of them. (He’d earned the nickname title of knight for a reason after all.) His gaze landed on Qrow nearby, sitting on the back of a chair next to Clover while he talked with the brunette, James and Robyn. Seeing the older hunter in the warm lights from overhead brought back memories. Memories of sitting around a campfire in Anima listening to stories. Stories that had taught them Rules. Rules that they’d adopted and lived by.

Rules he was about to put into effect.

~*~

Marrow shifted again, tail curling down when Sable got too close for comfort again. He wished she would stop getting in his personal space but every time he’d (politely) commented on it, she laughed and acted like he was making a joke. The Op had tried to escape the conversation but each time she’d simply grabbed onto him and held on, pulling him back and waving off whatever excuse he’d tried to make. It wasn’t the first time that a Happy Huntress had come on to him but the others had all realized when he wasn’t interested and had wandered off after a bit of talking. Sable just wasn’t taking no for an answer though and he wasn’t quite sure how to handle her pushy attitude. He’d never had to deal with someone like her before. He needed someone who knew what to do. 

Unfortunately with the party going on he wasn’t likely to get any help from anyone and was stuck on his own.

There was a bright flash that caught his eye. Glancing over for a better look, Marrow realized what he’d seen was the lights reflecting off of Jaune’s armor. Marrow could have kissed the knight (for any reason really) in gratitude when he noticed the blond was heading right for him. The faunus had expected Jaune to either join the conversation or make up some reason for why they had to leave. He was not expecting the other to get right into his space, lean over and _lick_ his cheek before dragging him off to where some of his friends had witnessed and were now grinning widely. The adults with the teens, excluding Qrow, all looked as confused as he felt.

“Bout time you made that claim.” Qrow smirked, dropping his chin into an open palm braced on his knee.

“Finally had a good reason to.” Jaune shrugged it off, still holding onto a bewildered Marrow’s hand.

“Not to be rude but… Do the rest of us get to know what that was about?” Fiona cocked her head to the side, one ear quirking and squinting as if she could understand them if she stared hard enough.

“Old Branwen Tribe Rule: If I lick it, it’s mine!” Several of them chimed together, repeating it together like a life mantra. Which from the sound of it was pretty accurate. 

“Uncle Qrow and Yang might be the only two original Branwens by blood but… We figured we’re like our own tribe so… You know. Tribe rules apply. We’re all Branwens now cause Uncle Qrow licked us!” Ruby ruffled her hair sheepishly as she explained, earning a fond smile from her uncle as all the adults turned to look at him. 

“You licked my sister!?” Winter hissed, bristling up like an angry cat. One one side of her, James sighed, dropping his head in resignation. On the other side of her, Robyn bit back a laugh while she watched the unfolding drama.

Qrow shrugged, tossing a discreet wink to the younger Schnee. “The Chieftain ordered it. Couldn’t leave her partner out of the tribe after all, now could she? Besides by now I think we’ve all licked each other at some point.” 

Weiss lifted a hand to hide her smile, leaning against Ruby’s arm while Winter glowered at Qrow, eventually being pulled back by Elm so she didn’t do something that would cause more trouble. Ruby looked over the group. Clover, more than the others she noticed, seemed deep in though after hearing the rule. He turned a considering eye on Qrow, who had decided to busy himself with watching Marrow blush and hold his tail still- though he noticeably hadn’t let go of Jaune’s hand. Which meant her uncle didn’t see it coming at all when Clover leaned over and licked his cheek.

Ruby didn’t think she’d ever seen Qrow’s eyes go as wide as they did when his brain finally caught up to what happened, the hand he wasn’t leaning on flying up to cover the cheek that had been claimed. He turned to stare incredulously at Clover, who stared right back, completely unrepentant. Qrow whipped around to the flock when they started giggling. 

“It doesn’t count!” He insisted hotly. The fierce blush on his pale cheeks made her grin when she replied. 

“The rule stands Uncle Qrow.”

“He’s not part of the tribe! It doesn’t count!” Qrow glared down at her from his perch on the chair. The effect was heavily ruined by the fact that he was still red in the face and was hunched down like he was trying to disappear. The still snickering flock were probably the ones responsible for that second part.

She kicked up her chin and placed both hands calmly on her hips when everyone turned to her for a response. “ _You_ are tribe so the _rule stands._ ” 

Qrow looked like he was going to try to argue further but Nora ran up and planted a foot on the seat of the chair between his, sticking a finger threateningly in his face so that he was forced to lean back or risk something getting poked. “No arguing with the Chieftain, Uncle Qrow!” 

“Yea! You were claimed fair and square.” One of these days Qrow was going to have to deck Tai right in the face for passing that damned grin on to Yang. Qrow had to live with it nearly everyday for four years back at the Academy. Hadn’t that been enough? Did he have to deal with it from the next generation too?

Tai was out of reach at the moment though. Unless he wanted to spend a week or so flying. Maybe he should punch Clover instead. The sneaky bastard was looking way too smug while still standing next to him. This time, since he was watching, Qrow saw it when the calculating light entered those (beautiful) teal eyes. The tribesman was immediately on guard, ready for anything the brunette may throw his way. The Captain gave a curious Ruby a conspiring look and then turned…

And licked _James_ right on the ear. The surprised General made a rather inelegant squawk and jumped away to stare wide eyed at the once again grinning Specialist, who was now admiring the glowing pink blooming on the high cheekbones.

“It stands!” Ruby yelled gleefully before any one had the chance to argue the legitimacy of Clover’s claim. “He claimed Uncle Qrow! That makes him tribe by proxy, so it stands!” Even if she didn’t have an argument to justify Clover’s claim, she would have figured something out. It was too cute and definitely too funny to see how flustered Qrow and James were after Clover licked them.

The Huntresses were all laughing and whispering to each other while several of the flock exchanged high fives. The Specialists were all at a lose, not used to dealing with the kind of chaos the rookies thrived in. 

Robyn clicked her tongue, grinning widely at Clover like she was proud of him for his sneaky and underhanded behavior. “Sounds like that settles that then. Which just leaves one more thing…” The tanned blond marched over to the gathered Specialists, amused at their growing confusion. She didn’t stop once she got close, getting right up into Winter’s space and pressing even closer to lick her nose. The lieutenant squeaked and grabbed her nose, cheeks going a cherry hue. “New Happy Huntress rule.” Robyn winked at the hysterical flock, draggin the sputtering Winter behind her to the designated dancefloor of the building. 

James rolled his eyes to the ceiling in exasperation. What in the names of the Brothers had they started now?

**Author's Note:**

> For all that Qrow is a bird, I somehow always imagine him as also being cat-like.... Like napping anywhere he wants in whatever position he happens to be in.... Even on James's desk.


End file.
